meeting is called to order thank you and welcome everyone um statement of compliance this meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meetings act an adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required by law specifically the revised annual notice was emailed to the west Texas Tribune and Star Ledger on February 28 2023 the agenda and resolutions for the meetings are available on www. Livingston nj.org certain portions of this meeting may be closed to the public for the purposes of personnel and or other matters as outlined in the Sunshine Law decisions made and or discussed in close session will be made known to the later to the public at a later time notice to the members of the governing body and Township staff any use of electronic devices during the meeting shall be used solely for the purposes of Township business and any communication or subject to the open meetings public Public Act to the extent possible this evening's Township of Livingston meeting will be live streamed via Facebook at www.facebook.com Livingston Township NJ questions and or comments email to live comments Livingston nj.org by 4M on the day of the meeting each speaker should follow the rules of order in Livingston code section 2-15 before the roll call uh Carolyn I just want to thank Charlotte and Brody for uh opening the meeting for us this is great so Carolyn roll call please council member mineard yes Klein here bie here Deputy Mayor Anthony here mayor viea present so would you like everybody to stand for a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and lead us in Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God in his will with liberty and justice for all thank you very much I'm going to take you back to Mom great job thank you very much they're coming down thank you very much you see you show up to a council meeting and see what happens you get to open it so I do not see um Eileen Fishman uh from essis County so uh here this evening so tonight um we have two presentations uh on our agenda um one is the history of the Livingston fire department with Tom Cooney but uh the first one is um you know what when I became a council member in 2019 uh Deputy Mayor you you may you probably do remember this but it was my it was an idea that I had is that you honored your wife and and I thought that was so great and you know what I know you and Lori love each other and it was just you know you made the front page of newspaper it was just I do think you love your wife right yes good you said I want my wife yes I still want my wife you still want your wife good good but I I thought that I thought that was so good and I said you know what if I was to ever become mayor you know I want to do something very similar so thank you for the thank you for the idea and you know what our our wives and our spouses uh Ricky you're out there um you know what you know we're we're we're the face to the community we're the ones that volunteer but you know what if it wasn't for it was if it wasn't for Gabby Ricky Lori Elena Cindy you know we couldn't do what we do for the community and this is our way of saying thank you so I know each of us uh want to say something um about each of our spouses and I'm going to ask um Ed to go first no I'm just kidding um so first of all you know I think mayor via said it well that um it's been now nine years I've sat on this Council finishing my ninth year and you know this doesn't happen without the support and the love of my wife and and my kids um who were started off when they I think we started off they were in high school when I started this and now they're out of college but um this is really it's a labor of love for us what we do but the labor but the Love Actually not the labor but the love comes from the family and so we cannot do this without the love and support that we get um and I you know truly thank Elena for everything that she does for me um day after day week after week year after year for our entire family um it doesn't really work it doesn't really work and it doesn't really happen without her so um I we I appreciate you I thank you very much and uh I certainly love you as much as as always and as ever and I also want to just thank all the other spouses as well because um we spent a lot of time up here together all of us and uh we abandon all the families and so uh I do want to give a shout out to all the spouses as well uh this evening for everything that they do for their for their spouses that are up here as well so thank you very much mayor for this opportunity for uh me to thank uh my wife and my family thank you and I think at the end of at the conclusion we do have flowers and a gift for our uh our spouses so I think we probably we'll wait till uh the end and uh and then all go down there uh Council moli oh Ricky I have I met Ricky when I was 19 years old he has been my entire world since the day I met him we have three beautiful children together and we have made a lovely home and you don't get to where I am today alone you have been my rock always supporting my every whim whether it was going back to school always having a meal ready when I get home that I get to you know send pictures too to the other council members I appreciate that deeply always taking care of our boys and making sure that we including me are all taken care of it takes a lot for to do everything that you do I have so many titles and they're because of you because you have supported me you have challenged me you have told me and have been the person who tells me all the time you can do anything you put your mind to row without you I don't think I would be here so I want to thank you for being the amazing father that you are the amazing husband that you are and for allowing every one of my dreams to come through thank you thank you councilwoman councilman Klein thank you for doing let me get that um mayor thank you for uh doing this for for us uh it's very sweet of you and we appreciate it um it's always uh a pleasure to be able to recognize my beautiful wife Cindy from up on the deas she always enjoys it you'll be you'll be you'll be happy to know by doing it now I won't do it again on January 1 how's that um we just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and had a uh a lovely day and night and um it was uh very special and I have no Illusions uh it's not um just being proforma to say that I don't get to sit up here unless you let me do it in the sense that I I would never be able to walk away from our family unless I know that you're covering everything and uh raising our kids the way we both want our kids raised and because you do that I can be here and I love you for it and uh and I thank you for it thank you Deputy Mayor Anthony yes uh Rosie I think I think we have you beat by a little bit we're actually High School sweethearts uh my wife and I uh we went to different high schools but uh I think you said 19 we were younger than 19 even but we've always been a team and um our kids adore you uh you our Idol our role model I get choked up with this so um we did have Lori Anthony Day in 2016 and 2019 uh the second one the difference in the writing was and uh it will be Lori Anthony day forever more in the Anthony household so she's already riding a streak right now of Lori Anthony day forever in our house uh but unanimously voted on by by everyone in a five boat it was five we debated it a lot right we went back and forth the consensus was it it finally passed and wait excuse me was that before after uh Bella you know was was able to max out your credit cards by that's right that was a good one yeah um thank you Ed for reminded me of that um but anyway uh we've been a team forever and um like everyone else said uh this wouldn't be possible without a buyin from you from um just the whole family everyone okay with since the kids were leav little babies you know Daddy's got to go help the town instead of uh you know watching a movie or doing something at night um but anyway thank you so much we love you we adore you um you're the best I love you thank you yeah Gabby you know what I love you so much I hope you still love me I I I do but you know what I love you because you love what I do for the community also and um you Michael and Samantha you're you're the ones that actually allow me to volunteer my time here and if it wasn't for you I couldn't do this I couldn't do what I do in the community and you know I love doing it and you know what I don't know if I have you all beat because I didn't go out with Gabby when she was a teenager although I knew Gabby when she was a teen we're about four years apart and she was my sister's friend and I think she probably always tried to flirt with me until she got of legal age and then I started flirting with her but uh um uh we I I think I have you a lot of information yes so I'm but you know it was we were all legal but you know what it was very simple it was very simple to ask Gabby out but you know what you've been with me even before we're married I was involved in the politics of orange and uh you know what you knew what you were getting into when you said I do and uh I thank you for that um you've been with me from from oh my God for years and years and years and thank you and you know what I'm here in Livingston because of you because when we decided to move out of the town we were in and I said to you I wanted to stay in in essis County you had said that the only town you wanted to move into was Livingston and um we were taking our kids up uh here since they were six weeks old up at precious care and um you know what we moved up to Livingston we now have our roots in Livingston I just want to thank you I love you I love the kids and and just thank you for everything you do thank you for the late nights thank you for the missing dinners I think we all have missing dinners with our families and just thank you and I want to thank all of our spouses because again it was set up here without all of you we can't do this for the community and and today I wanted to make sure that we recognize all of you because clearly you know what you make us so thank you we have um let's go down and um and present our uh our wives and husbands with a a token of our appreciation to them also we call so so each of us has to a a bouet flowers but also we have a u i know Ricky would have prefer a chef or something we also have a little something in these cards um we we know that uh what your favorite restaurants are and we want you to enjoy um one you hold yeah and we want you to enjoy uh dinner maybe we could actually go with [Music] you but again this is your day and we just want to thank you sorry I'm taking one more that was [Applause] [Music] [Music] right so before we begin I want to recognize uh commissioner pild is in the audience welcome Pat so next on the agenda is uh he's coming in his fire uniform not his elf uniform but uh for those who know Tom Cooney know that he's a a wonderful full volunteer for the community volunteer fire in the fire company as well as um the the head person in charge of the cuso holiday display so um Tom I know you have a presentation to uh to make so is there a the microphone's there okay I believe it is Andy worldlet yeah excellent thank you um this is just a brief presentation that we had planned uh All Along on doing much sooner for our 100th anniversary uh we celebrated 100 years of service to the Township in late uh 2021 uh and we had a number of events planned as well as historical uh displays and this presentation uh but unfortunately our research was stopped short due to covid when the libraries and the historical societies were closed we couldn't proceed so everything got backed up but we're here tonight um so the reason I'm here is I'm going to present you uh the mayor and the council and really the community with a document that was discovered during our research for our history book our history book uh we hope to have printed mid year this year um the West Essex Tribune is doing the layout and design for us uh they're working on it all week long and we're hopeful that by mid year as I said we'll have it uh printed so during the research phase um for our historical uh book that we're writing We examined everything in fire headquarters up in the attic now you might be familiar might not in 1929 when the firehouse was built the one we're still in the second floor was Town Hall so it is chock full of Records not just Fire Department Records but also Township records so um during that research we came across a document uh you've probably many of you have probably seen it before but you've seen what we believe to be copies uh this document um and Andy if you could put that up I'll explain it briefly this document here appears there are copies that appear I believe in the library there's one outside in the uh display cases so this was the original plan for Memorial Park and the high school and the oval uh if you've never stopped to look at it it's a lot different than it actually wound up being when it was developed uh the reason we wanted to present this document is because as I said there are copies everywhere but I believe this to be either the original or definitely one of The Originals as it was located in a ledger book in the Attic with accounting records from 1938 and that's when this was presented at the 125th anniversary of Livingston it was unveiled at one of the ceremonies so it belongs to the community and we're giving it back so I'll show you what it the this is The Real McCoy I believe so as I said you've seen you've seen copies of it but if you take a close look I I really believe this is either the original or one of the original prints so this belongs in town hall and I'm on behalf of the entire fire department over the last 102 years uh we want to present this and make sure it's on display yeah yeah so if you if you look at the the screen actually I can point it out to you the so obviously driveway there's the high school this was supposed to be a recessed Amphitheater with a stage this was supposed to be Police Headquarters this was going to be town hall with a circular driveway this was slated to be the library out in front of what is now Town wall where we are was supposed to be a traffic circle this was the post office these were stores this was a community center with a garden and this was supposed to be a Boy Scout building which shortly after this was unveiled the old Breck building was built right there so it obviously did not turn out as originally planned according to this rition get there was no pool in the original when you drew this 19 when you drew this did you what was the old Hall turn Qui thank you lot of surprises this is only are you joining us you Tom thank you very much and um on on a separate note I know I know what you and your uh the elves are going through with all of this rain and wind and uh you know I the Kusa display has survived but I I know it's closed tonight and I know there's a little bit of work uh tomorrow setting up some uh of the uh um mountains and everything else that fell down building You're Building rafts mayor mayor can I say a word absolutely so in addition to obviously Tom and your elves but since and Ralph are here as well um I think it's you know sort of appropriate to say thank you today in Livingston there was a house fire over on Broad lawn and I know everybody I know the response that was given by our volunteer fire department and so I think it's very appropriate to say thanks to the three of you who are here and to the entire staff uh who work so hard for everything that you do and we appreciate everything that you do so thank you thank you thank you very much so at this time I I need to open the Community Development block grant um app uh hearing so um tonight on the agenda we need to hold the 2024 esss County Community Development block gr application public hearing uh tonight's public hearing is the second public hearing as required as we're required to hold two public hearings uh Russ before we open a public hearing can you explain what this uh Community Development block grant public hearing is and the benefits to the living in community yeah actually uh Livingston cannot apply directly to HUD for the community it's a federal program for Community Development funds so in Essex County there's only four towns that can apply directly to HUD which are Irvington Newark East Orange and Bloomfield because they have populations of 50,000 or more so Essex County then becomes the applicant to HUD and then we make application for a portion of the Y County Grant um it's a p it's a low and moderate income program so we are somewhat Limited in the kind of project so that we can get funded because we don't have the demographics that meet some of the requirements uh however most of the things we do now are Ada or or the old days we call barrier free Improvement projects um you may have seen some of our senior buses around several of those were funded through the ess6 county through the Community Development block grant program and we're actually this last year we have an application in it which was approved to get a sensory trailer which will be taken to events and for people that maybe have some problems with uh you know being overstimulated by uh certain kinds of activities whether it be fireworks or whatever it's sort of a quiet area that they can go and just be at peace so we're in the process of doing those specifications so okay thank you Russ so may motion to open a public hearing it's been mov a second all in favor I so the public hearing on the essis County Community Development Block Grant application is now open there's a three minute time limit uh per person is there anybody who would like to speak on it so may have uh Madam clerk has any uh Madam clerk has any written comments been received so may have a motion to close the public hearing on the CD second okay it's been moved in second all in favor opposed thank you we're at this time at the um the approval of minutes uh we have the regular and conference meeting minutes from December 11 2023 and the closed minute session the Clos session minutes from December 11th may have a motion to approve the meeting minutes pending corrections may mayor before we go I'm just going to recuse myself I wasn't here on December 11th okay thank you um may have a mover I have a second second all in favor opposed thank you okay we're moving on to public comment on agenda items may have a motion to open the public portion on agenda item items only moved it's may have a second all in favor okay so at this time the meeting is now open on any uh agenda items only there's a 4minute time limit per person hi Justin how are you I am well Mr Mayor how are you sir good Justin aler 56 Amur place with respect to resolution 23271 approving a lease with the US house representative from Mikey Cheryl um difficult to comment on this where will she be leasing space please russer Adam so she'll be re releasing space on the second floor of the uh Municipal Hall here we ought to do it in one of our commercial districts so like the people who come into town to visit her can take advantage of all the improvements that we're doing just throwing it out there thank you Mr Mayor thank you is there any other uh comments on agenda items okay no no madame clerk any uh no mayor there isn't no so here are no more comments may have a motion to close the public portion on it's been moved it's been second all in favor opposed none so passage of ordinances tonight there are no ordinances for second reading and there's no ordinance for introductions that brings us to the consent agenda so uh all matters listed with an astrict are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the council and will be approved by one motion there will be no separate discussions of these items unless a member of the governing body so requests in which case the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the um uh on the agenda as part of general orders um Madame clerk um would you please read all the resolutions um on the consent agenda by title and resolution C Deputy Mayor I know that you're going to to pull one of them uh but uh we'll do that um after the cler region resolution 23- 267 authorizing the award of a contract to Rapid pump and meter Service Company Inc resolution 23268 establishing 2024 sales fees resolution 23- 269 increasing deferred local school district tax resolution 23270 Award of contract to Brun Associates Inc for Grant Consulting Services resolution 23271 approving lease for us house district New Jersey 11 office resolution 23- 272 cancellations of dedication by riters in the general trust fund resolution 23- 273 transfer 2023 budget Appropriations resolution 23- 274 approving administr ad administrative consent order with njde for past remediation plan thank you do any members wish to have any it removed from the consent agenda for separate discussion and voting uh yes mayor I'd just like to recuse myself from 23- 274 great I would also like to recuse myself from 23270 270 um mayor I'd also I'd like to pull out um 271 just for discussion okay so we'll do it separately everything separately so may I have a motion to approve all the resolutions remaining on the consent agenda may have a second second Madam clerk roll call please council member Mard yes fly yes boli yes Deputy Mayor Anthony yes mayor viea yes okay so may I have um a motion to approve resolution uh 23270 it's been moved may have a second well I'm sorry yeah okay so let's start this over again may have a motion to approve resolution 23270 mayor I'll make the motion it's been moved may have a second you second it don't don't don't second any discussion Madame clerk rall please council member mhart yes fly yes theol is recused Deputy Mayor Anthony yes mayor aiera yes I believe the other one that was pulled was 23271 so may have a motion to uh approve resolution number 23271 motion I'm sorry no no comments uh after we move it I'm sorry so it's a move may have a second second uh any discussion um mayor I just I I wanted to pull this out because I think this is a real feather in our cap in Livingston um this is a government building that people come into all day long day in and day out um for access to uh minicipal government and now it's going to be One-Stop shopping for access to the federal government um I think that we can be very proud of our uh congresswoman and how she's represented us and the fact that her offices are going to be in this building will be uh great for Livingston also great for um our high school students who have access to working in the office as convenient as possible um I see a couple of uh at least one former high school I'm not sure who's next to you um young people involved in in town and um I we were having a discussion when I'm looking at you I we had a discussion earlier today uh about expanding access to the to the town's committees to Livingston high school students to show them that you know for those who are interested in government um and and want to have meaningful experiences it seems like we should be able to accommodate them on the actual Town Council uh committees and I think that we should figure out you know mechanically how we can do that I know that uh Jared uh the town attorney has said we have to be you know it has to be handled the right way but it seems like it would be a great idea in my opinion so anyway uh just circling back around I'm very happy about uh resolution 23271 thank you thank you any other discussion so I just want to say uh councilman you you you hit the nail right inead One-Stop shopping anybody who needs uh anything regarding Municipal and our federal uh you know it's right here in the building uh this building doesn't play politics it plays services so I think it's really great that uh that we have the congresswoman in our building uh for our residents and it will bring people from outside of Livingston into our community who can shop and and eat and everything else so is there any other discussions um Madam clerk roll call please council member mhart yes Klein yes boli yes Deputy Mayor Anthony yes mayor viea yes uh may I have a resolution to approve resolution number 23- 274 may have a mover Move May second uh all in favor May any discussion Madam clerk roll call please council member Mard yes Klein yes boli yes Deputy Mayor Anthony is recused mayor viea yes okay great thank you it brings us to the public portion on any subject may have a motion to open a public portion on any subject it's been moved may have a second all in favor so the meeting is now open with a three minute time limit uh if you want to come up to the microphone please leave your name for the record seeing none um Madame clerk any written comments uh that have been received by your office yes mayor I do have uh a couple to read um the the first one is to the Town Council from Paul boxer he writes at your meeting of November 27th 2023 the mayor engaged in hostile and slanderous behavior towards me screaming baseless accusations at me from the deas this happened in public and despite the fact that he knew his accusations to be false he attempted to defame and smear me in front of the community I've called home for 10 years council members I have children in our schools I have served on elmac and the lcdi Committees for the May to knowingly launch false accusations at me in an attempt to tarnish my name and reputation was in my opinion disgusting by now many of my fellow residents have sent me messages or approached me in person to condemn the mayor's actions and expressed their shock and disappointment at his disgraceful Behavior the mayor's actions are made even more atrocious given that he has so far failed to issue a public apology and withdrawal of his baseless accusations mayor Vieira we we teach our smallest children to take responsibility when they have done something wrong it's a very low bar and a very simple standard this is now the second chance at a public apology with which you have been presented the community that elected you to this Council expects that you will do the right thing thank you so it it's time to address Mr boxer's letters from the last two meetings first no one was screaming maybe the voices were raised but there was no screaming and the loudest comment I said to Mr boxer was when I said that that's disgusting and in my opinion that will not change I truly believe Mr boxer showed a lack of common sense in endorsing a post on his Facebook Social Media Group page that encouraged people to protest and picket in front of the council memb homes a place where our children and our spouses live maybe there was some confusion because two issues were being discussed at the same time both involving social media posts the first post that a resident posted on the Township's Facebook page listed a local Builder's home address and information about the size of that home that post was purposely intended to be in bad taste this post was not on Mr boxer's social media page group however the issue that I took the most offense to was when a resident made a post on the social media group that Mr boxer is the administrator of and telling readers to protest and picket the council members homes instead of removing that post Mr boxer and another Resident gave it the thumbs up to endorse the post they liked it we sit up here as council members pretty much as volunteers for our community we do this with our family's support if you have a problem with us come after us don't come after our families in our homes the this post scared our families some of us up here have younger children Mr boxer continues to try to justify that protesting and picking is leg legal and he's right that's the F person's First Amendment right okay my First Amendment right is to tell him as the administrator of the group and who's supporting the picket statement that it's disgusting and wrong and that type of online Behavior doesn't belong in Livingston when this comment was posted on Mr boxer's group site the council members were away at a conference our families were rightfully concerned about the post and Mr boxer at the meeting you said you were a peaceful man I believe you you said you don't even own a gun I'll take you for I'll take your word for that but Paul can you assure me that everyone of your social media readers is the same of same as you no you can't earlier this year a council woman in s sville was murdered in front of her home warnings were issued by every elected official around the state as a precaution let's talk about someone ringing Nancy Pelosi's doorbell and beating her husband over the head with a hammer let's talk about the New Jersey judge whose son answered the doorbell and was shot and killed and her husband was severely wounded these people were not after family members but they became the victims unfortunately there are crazy people in this world Paul we can agree to disagree but as administrator of that Social Media Group you are liable for anything that happens and everything that is posted you endorsed that disgus statement Gabby Michael Samantha I'm sorry that I placed you in that position where you were threatened to have our home picket it so I'm sorry for that thank you I was going to follow up for one second since I made some comments a few weeks ago about that same post I'll continue at that it is uh Mr boxer's First Amendment right to talk about that and to people to march in front of their homes there's no doubt about that but as Mr boxer did say we all residents of this town and I'll say the same thing we are residents of this town we are allowed to speak up as well and because of that I felt the same way that the mayor did he put uh my wife who was home alone in a fear of harm needing extra police protection in front of the house that the extra taxpayers dollars that cost overtime to protect um my house and the house of the my fellow Council of men and women who are up here as well so I want to thank the mayor for his comments thank you uh may I have the motion to close the public portion oh I'm sorry there's more the next comment is from Michelle lemu she writes hi my name is Michelle lemu I live on Byron place on the other side of the bridge from school my daughters ages 5 and 10 both walk to Bernett Hill Elementary School for the last six years we've been walking to school and the sidewalk from the end of Byron place to the school is horrendous I have filled numerous service request forms through the Civic mobile app or from the town's website over the years and brought this to the attention of the council and the township many times whenever we report any weather related issues it is handled I am thankful for that but the the sidewalk is very difficult for children and families to maneuver there are potholes that just keep getting refilled and refilled with tar the sidewalk itself is broken into so many cracks leaving pieces of tar on the walkway and grass next to it there is a slant where kids and parents lose balance because of the unevenness of the sidewalk into the grassy area between the street and the walkway this seems to be because the sidewalk has been repaired with tar over and over for the last six years this is only as long as I have been using it for school I've attached photos for your reference I'd just like a safe walkway sidewalk for my children to walk to and from school I know there are tons of sidewalk issues all over town but I am hopeful you can address this so no one gets hurt as the cold weather approaches as these sidewalks aren't always maintained during the winter thank you for your time and consideration and then mayor I just wanted to mention there was one other comment that was received um that uh was shared with everybody here on the coun in theas but um it was not um it was more a forwarding of correspondences so I will not be reading it tonight gotcha so in regards to Michelle's post uh or letter would you please make sure that Barry and Adam and Russ get it I know there were some pictures and uh Michelle we are starting to look at sidewalks especially uh where children um are walking to school so um we'll make sure that uh we get somebody out there to assess the sidewalks but we are making a list and there's some grants out there safe outs to school and and all of that that we're starting to uh to work on the sidewalks on um councilman mhart did you have a comment that you wanted to read at this point oh okay no problem so may have a motion to close the public portion on any subject may have a second mayor mayor oh yeah sure just comp the microphone yeah I didn't close it yet my name is John Brea 15 glannon Road here in town and uh I feel like what I wanted to bring up which is the charging stations are uh is kind of a small issue compared to other things that you you all talk about but the charging stations here when there was no when they were no cost when they were free were busy all the time but since something new has been instituted where they where it now costs money they're vacant almost all the time and just driving over here this evening they were all empty so I just wanted to throw the suggestion out there if you wanted to make them useful to the town to put in a supercharger the kind that people would be more prone to use as opposed to the very slow kind which are presently there so um thank you very much for for listening I appreciate it thank you and you and you missed our conference meeting because that was one of the discussions no really yes I was the one who brought it up so um thank you for your comments uh we are working on procuring grants uh through the state for uh the high level Chargers um great and and you know we did have some I think there was a lot of conversation around establishing a charging uh I I mean charging from a cost point of view uh for for the cost of charging your car uh and we tried to strike a balance where it would not be expensive for someone to come along and charge for a short time but then of course people were leaving their cars there all along and didn't give anyone else a chance and so that over time there the price would go up you know uh you know as as you got into later hours right so we were trying to but you know we we do want them to be used they're there for use uh we do want to get better ones as best we you know as soon as we can and it's something we're thinking about and I think um the most important thing here is is that we want to encourage uh electric vehicles right everyone here has to be wored about climate change and driving electric vehicles like the one of the most important things any individual can do um you know in order to to help combat uh climate change so thank you great thank you I appreciate it thank you very much thank you very much uh may I have a motion to close the public portion on any subject it's been moved may have a second all in favor opposed thank you very much uh at this time we are on to uh Council um nope reports of town fish uh Talent officials but before we do this Elizabeth thank you very much and Charlotte and Brody thank you very much uh it's great you know Charlotte maybe someday you'll be sitting in my seat as uh afterwards and you'll be the mayor of this town and Brody too so uh thank you very much uh deputy mayor uh Russ Jones do you have anything to uh to mention thank you uh assistant Township manager Adam larner anything not this evening um Carolyn mizuka anything nothing for me mayor thank anything yes yes I wanted to tell you that um we invested this year quite a bit because the interest rates were up and we earned almost $1.1 million in interest income last year was not even a quarter of that so that's a good thing oh very good thank you very much um Mr caner anything and uh we are going to be going back into uh a close session after this correct uh yes ma we be on the close session to discuss a Personnel matter um and fair share housing ation specifically uh the Westminster espad property um which was part of our fare housing settlement agreement and the deadline surrounding that um and the Township's plan to meet those deadlines great thank you uh Council comments uh council member Ed mhart anything thank you very much a couple things first of all um want to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas I don't think we're going to be meeting again before the Christmas holiday so to all celebrate a very Merry Christmas uh and a healthy and happy New Year uh also uh also quano begins on the 26th of December so I wish everybody a festive and happy K Quanza um I also want to just take a minute uh to thank mayor Vieira for his leadership this year uh not you know we went through some tough times obviously and some struggles but you did you did a nice job leading us through the year so thank you to Deputy Mayor Al Anthony we wish you all the best next year as mayor know we'll you'll continue doing a stellar job for this town and to um to my partner here on my left who will no longer be with us uh uh assembly woman elect boli we wish you all the best in Trenton we know that you will represent us proud and we look forward to you returning and Reporting back to us often so we wish you all the best um finally I received a letter that I'd like to read um it was addressed to me but really address to the town and to the DPW comes from the United Association of landscaper contractors the president and the treasurer are two uh local Livingston landscapers and it reads as follow uh to the council we would like to take this opportunity to commend the township on the service they provide year round but especially during the annual leaf collection process our group can appreciate the amount of effort it takes to accomplish this task in a timely fashion Township employees work diligently on a daily basis through all kinds of weather and conditions to keep Livingston the well-maintained community that it is from all the members of The ulc Once once again we'd like to acknowledge the township efforts and happy holidays to all I mention it often I'll continue you to say the DPW workers are the backbone of this operation through all uh through all seasons they're out there making sure that our fields are line making sure that our streets are clean making sure that our our um sewers and the gutters and the leaves are are picked up so we thank them for everything that they do and uh I just wanted to make sure that this letter was read thank you councilman anything else no thank you very much councilman Shan Klein um I also want to reflect what uh Ed said happy holidays to everybody and Merry Christmas and happy New Year in Quanza and um uh for all those who celebrated Hanukkah happy Hanukkah uh finishing up on that um I think I would just uh wanted to say um you know Tom Cooney was here and um was presenting us with this document and I I wish he was still in the room um because when you sit and talk to him for more than 30 seconds you realize he has this encyclopedic knowledge uh of Livingston that there's two things you realize one is the depth of his knowledge uh and the other one is the depth of his love um it's a you know he just loves this town and he has taken the time to take care of this town in all the different facets and you know I I always want to um when you have one of these top tier Volunteers in town I I just always want to acknowledge that um there are some um uh the mayor and I have had some discussions uh with Tom and some of the uh some of the volunteer firemen um and we're going to have more to say on this uh a little bit later on but uh we think it's really important uh uh to be able to um recognize their contribution uh and um be able to um I I don't want to say too much right now but we're looking forward to recognizing their contribution the first aid Squad and uh and the fire department uh in a really meaningful way uh we recognize the value that they have to our Township and um I think we're going to be uh doing something important to show that thank you Council mcline uh assembly woman elect Rosie boli good evening everyone you'll have your entire government here in Livingston you'll have uh you'll have the local government you'll have me who'll be taking over Governor Cody's office and you'll have Mikey here so congratulations to citizens of Livingston and you have all you have Pat sealt here too you have your entire your entire government in one town um I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas a blessed K Quanza um a happy New Year since we'll not be meeting until the first of the year um I wanted to thank all the residents and today's not the day where I'm going to give my goodbye but I want to thank everyone for their support this year I want to thank Michael Vieira for his vision for his um leadership this year for guiding us through some very difficult times and the rest of the council members who were just um amazing men to work with this year thank you so much great thank you assembly woman elect I I'll get used to saying that right now to me you're always Rosie um Deputy Mayor Al Anthony sure uh just uh Echo uh Merry Christmas uh uh a blessed K Quanza Happy New Year to everyone um few things um if you got went out to cuso on Saturday uh it was amazing uh there was uh is that the night with the horses and everything yeah it's hard I've been there a bunch of times but Tim Foley played a great Santa Claus he looked a lot like Santa Claus can't say that he's Santa Claus he is Santa Claus that's right yeah um we then uh it was just a great night I know lacd had an event earlier um just great uh uh holiday spirit over there thank you for all the volunteers uh Tom including uh the chief elf right there anyway I I didn't thank the other spouses I think before I was so caught up in uh since I have been as a a kid with my own wife but thanks to all the spouses and all they put up with uh all the time of um you know kind of losing us for a while whether it's ribbon cuting during the day or nights or liaz on to committees I mean we could be out like every night um so and weekends too so I thank all of our spouses uh for putting up with us and um yes and congratulations uh Assembly women elect uh for a a great election and uh mayor Vieira uh this you you know you had a uh a really busy year uh and you were uh you did a nice job during it so thank you for your undying service to this town thank you thank you Deputy Mayor and uh I too want to wish everybody Happy Holidays uh and a healthy and happy 2024 I don't know what's going on uh you know what usually I come uh home from these meetings this is going to be an early meeting I think unless uh the the close session is longer but you usually uh my wife will order me dinner and uh I'll just stick it in the microwave and and eat it about 10:30 but since she's here now I'm not sure what kind of dinner I'm getting at home but um you know gab if you want to stop at McDonald's on your way out of here uh yeah that's that McDonald's seems to be my dinner of choice after the council meetings but uh I too want to thank also the um uh the cuso elves you know they've done such a marvelous job and if anybody has not gone to see the cusu display yet it's only only open to January 1st I think we're uh we're closing at January 1st you got to get out there to see it there's hundreds and hundreds of people there on the weekends and it's really wonderful uh want to congratulate uh our deputy mayor who will Ascend the the mayor uh wish you had a dish year Al I wish you already V roles reversed a little bit um but uh you know what we got through this year it was a tough year uh we ended up doing it I'm proud of my year uh I want to thank every single person the one I want to thank uh really is is Carolyn mizuka Carolyn you know what you kept me straight narrow you you you do so much uh you're one of those names that aren't called on a lot but you really do keep us together so and I'm sure I'll have more I have a great staff too I'd be absolutely my great Liz Liz Rene and Casey are are wonderful and uh we we thank all of them for that uh really we we do so um our reorganization meeting is January 1st at 11 o'clock I'm sure all of us will have a little bit more to say uh today is I think it's probably my last meeting uh we're not sure whether we're going to have a special meeting but those special meetings are only for Budget purposes and they only last about 10 minutes but today is my last meeting and I'm sure you're still mayor you're still mayor of the re I say thanks we continue to I'm sure my my fans on Facebook right now are saying yay yay yay so we we we'll be reading that shortly you're still married January one don't don't for a couple of minutes but got tripped out of an apple pie shorten the job don't try and shorten the job I won't but uh again thank you very much uh this meeting is is adjourned we're all going back into to close session it's good to see uh you guys from uh back from uh uh I guess winter break now so enjoy yourself we we'll meet for coffee or something may just we're going to we're going to go through a close session resolution one more time oh yes I'm sorry carollyn can you uh take us into close session resolution 23276 whereas the open public meetings ACT public law 1975 chapter 231 permits the exclusion of the public from a certain meeting in certain circumstances and whereas the township council is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist and whereas the township Council wishes to discuss fair share housing attorney client privilege litigation and Personnel matters whereas minutes will be kept and once the matter involving the confidentiality of the above no longer requires confidentiality the minutes can be made public now therefore be resolve the township Council the township of Livingston that the public be excluded from this meeting you need roll call or no council member mhart yes L bolie yes Deputy Mayor Anthony yes mayor VI yes thank you